blessed are the poor...

for they shall inherit the earth....

Don't know why, but that has been in my head for the past hour or so. Actually, I do know why...as, I've shared with you before, we are experiencing financial difficulties. Not difficulties like we can't afford groceries, but difficulty in figuring out how are we going to continue. I've been looking for a job, but with my husband's schedule, it really makes it a bit difficult with two kids and their school schedules. The bottom line is that my income hasn't been there for the past year and it makes things tight.

I know, I know, some of you are wondering, why on earth are you airing your dirty laundry??? Why? Well, I guess because I don't think of it as dirty laundry. There are a lot of hurting people in the world right now. There are a lot, and I mean A LOT of people who have things a heck of a lot worse than I do. I know that I am rich beyond measure. I have food to eat, I have a place to lay my head, I have two cars, I have two healthy children. I know that I am blessed.

But I also know that there are times in each of our lives when we don't feel blessed. We feel like our prayers are not penetrating the clouds above us. We feel like God has all but forgotten us.

It is what it is. It's like my son says, "you get what you get and you don't get upset." I love that!! What a great way to live your life, don't you think? Why get stressed out about money, weight, jobs, relationships??? You don't have to .... you're dealt the cards you're dealt...deal with it. You can make it better or worse. But don't get upset about it. Don't be ashamed of the cards you're dealt. God has allowed those cards to be dealt to you. He has something better in store. Something that you wouldn't be able to attain on your own if you never went through those/these hard times.

My mother-in-law wrote something today that really resonated with me, I don't know who said it but here it is:

"Be kinder than you think necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

How true that is.

And as for the earth? I'm waiting for it. I know God has many blessings and riches awaiting me. Maybe not during my lifetime, but I will see it one day.

Welcome, 2008!

Well. 2008 is not starting off the way I had hoped it would. My big deal that was supposed to close this month has gone down the toilet. That was my catch up fund. Now what??? Thinking about selling the house. Simply cannot afford to keep it. Plain and simple. The market has tanked so badly that it will be YEARS before I can get out of it what we've put into it....
I found a great blog last week written by a mom who is a millionaire (self-made) - and the biggest lesson/advice that I've learned from reading her posts is that they were able to attain financial freedom by NOT owning a home. Used to. Downsized and took the difference (and the equity) and invested. Hmmmmmm, sounds like a great idea to me. I know, I know, too simplified, BUT, I do believe in the adage that you never really own your home, it ends up owning you. In this market, it just makes more sense to rent. At least for my family. Especially when my income literally is down to nothing...oops, sorry, I made 25% of what I had made the year before!! How's that for job stability?
Oh well. Life goes on, right? These are not the things of great importance. Both kids have developed really bad colds and Little Prince has a fever tonight. This is the greatest time of my life, in terms of my family life. THIS is what is important. It's sometimes hard to focus and remember those things. We get sideswiped by the mundane, the bills, the mortgage, the maintenance, all the things we "think" we need to have right now. We think we're poor, until we see that we have so much more than 90% of the rest of the world. We are truly blessed. God is good all the time. And all the time God is good. As one of my favorite songs says, "I'll praise You in the storm."
Have a great upcoming week!